60 degrees C is not "the threshold" for my Athlon XP 3200+ - the Bios is set to shut it down if the temperature reaches 70 degrees C as a sensible precaution, but this particular CPU's limit is 85 degrees C.

Quite often in summer it has peaked at 67-69 degrees C, but there have been no ill effects during its near four-year lifespan in my system.

Another point is that sensors are not necessarily truly accurate reporters of temperatures - it depends on where they are sited.

However, I would agree that the motherboard and hard drive temperatures seem somewhat high in Seth Haniel's case.

Incidentally (though I'm not sure, without checking, if it's my current system or the previous one), the Bios reporting of temperatures is/was able to provide an "open" case and "enclosed" case reading.

what are the components? this is quite important. my amd is twice the temp of my intel, my samsung drives are half the (reported) temps of wdc, my msi motherboard is less than a third of my asus temp both in antec 1200 cases, different components very different temps.

You don't say what processor you are running. Socket 939 and AM2 processors will run a lot (e.g. 15-20 deg) cooler if you enable Cool'N'Quiet in BIOS, and set your power management settings to "minimal power management". My AMD64 3800+ runs at around 23-26 deg idle, but jumps to around 45-55 under load (CPU diode temp).

My system temperatures were considerably improved by installing a side case fan pointing straight down onto the passive Northbridge cooler.

All my fans are extremely quiet and set for "silent" running between 800 - 1200 rpm.